One of the perils of our increasingly-connected lives is the extent to which many of the constitutional protections we rely on in our non-digital lives either do not apply or work differently when applied to our electronic devices. Perhaps the most important example of this lies in fifth amendment jurisprudence, or what is more commonly … Continue reading What’s Testimonial?: The Fifth Amendment in the Digital Age

In May of 2018, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, made what many deemed the lofty promise of free, universal, all day pre-K for every four-year-old in the city. This announcement follows the lead of both the Mayor of New York’s Bill De Blasio’s Universal pre-K initiative and several states that have increased their funding … Continue reading An Equal Start: The Case for Universal Pre-K

The right to a nationality seems trivial as compared to the many rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, nationality, belonging to a country, is crucial for an individual’s access to resources and security. For the estimated 12 million stateless persons worldwide, lacking a nationality has left them without a legal home … Continue reading Stateless in the States: Addressing US Statelessness

We need to change the way we talk about sexual misconduct, specifically in regard to consent. Though recent activism throughout the entertainment industry and college campuses has sparked outcry for such change, policies regarding affirmative consent, as well as societal engagement about consent, still lacks nationwide. We still see consent as something that is nonchalantly … Continue reading The Case for Affirmative Consent Laws

This piece is co-authored by Manon Steel, Roosevelt’s National Education Policy Coordinator and a member of Roosevelt @ MSU, and Connor Rockhill, a student at the University of Michigan and a member of Roosevelt @ U of M. If you’re interested in getting involved with Roosevelt @ U of M, check them out on Twitter or … Continue reading Divided We Stand: Michigan’s Love Affair With Charter Schools

To the left, Betsy DeVos has become the human embodiment of all that is wrong with the movement to further privatize public education. Her vision for the future of the American education system revolves around increasing the number of private and charter schools, and school of choice through programs such as vouchers. However, the current … Continue reading The Consequences of Commoditizing Education

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In the past month, the Trump administration has responded to the arrival of thousands of asylum seekers, with deployed military forces, tear gas, and attempts to block legal entry into the US. President Trump has all but closed the US-Mexico border, and combined his efforts with rhetoric about the danger on the asylum seekers. The … Continue reading Trump’s Failing Asylum Policy

Since the moment that Trump was inaugurated, his administration has made direct attacks on the rights of LGBT citizens and undermined the progress made by generations of activism. As of 2018, twenty-eight states including Michigan, still lack explicit legal prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing. Due to … Continue reading Thinking Local for LGBT Nondiscrimination

By: Katarina Huss and Vishnu Kannan Since the 2016 election, commentators, former officials, and scholars have worried over the state of the “liberal international order.” The order, established in the aftermath of the Second World War, refers to the framework of international institutions, laws, and norms which have reduced war and promoted economic well being … Continue reading Turning Back the Clock on Human Rights

This post was contributed by a member of Roosevelt @ MSU. On this Fourth of July, our politics is characterized by the bitter partisanship and outrage which has plagued our politics for the past several years. So, it only seems right to try and return some degree of civility to that politics—hence this piece. High-profile … Continue reading Dissecting the Haspel Nomination: Fulfilling a Civic Obligation

One of the perils of our increasingly-connected lives is the extent to which many of the constitutional protections we rely on in our non-digital lives either do not apply or work differently when applied to our electronic devices. Perhaps the most important example of this lies in fifth amendment jurisprudence, or what is more commonly … Continue reading What’s Testimonial?: The Fifth Amendment in the Digital Age

On May 12, 2018, the QLine celebrated its first anniversary. Though the QLine was championed as a step in public transportation, the streetcar only operates a 6.6-mile loop on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue. With its twelve locations limited to major entertainment and sport complexes including the Detroit Institute of Arts, a series of parking lots, the … Continue reading Trains to Nowhere: Mobility as a Right in Southeast Michigan

In May of 2018, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, made what many deemed the lofty promise of free, universal, all day pre-K for every four-year-old in the city. This announcement follows the lead of both the Mayor of New York’s Bill De Blasio’s Universal pre-K initiative and several states that have increased their funding … Continue reading An Equal Start: The Case for Universal Pre-K

Over the past few months things have seemed different on the web. We've begun to widely ask questions we haven't publicly considered about the role of data collection in our connected lives. Part of the trigger for this is a result of the ongoing fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where data collected from users … Continue reading Beyond GDPR: Banning Targeted Advertisements